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Alternative Careers on Wall Street

Career Center Kickoff for Recruiting and Internships On Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018, the Yeshiva University Career Center held the third of its fall semester networking events, complementing TechUcation and the Non-Profit/Year of Service Career Fair. Titled “What is Wall Street (Other Than Investment Banking),” the event featured four panel discussions, run concurrently in two sessions, pitched to students looking to start their internship and job search and to alumni looking to advance or shift their careers within the financial industry. Susan Bauer, executive director of the Career Center, explained that the take-away for the attendees would be “more and better knowledge about what they need to learn for interviewing as well as knowing the inner workings of the industry that they want to join.” Dan Chesner, managing director for prime brokerage at Morgan Stanley, gave the keynote speech, in which he advised people to follow the mantra of “learn, network, resume-build and interview” in order to reach their desired level of success. He then reviewed the hundreds of jobs on Wall Street that aren’t tied to finance, such as working in operations, while reminding his audience that to get any of these jobs required extraordinary efforts on their part to acquire a detailed knowledge of the companies to which they want to apply, reach out proactively in their networking, pay close attention to both the details and formatting of their resumes and always treat every situation in which they find themselves as an interview. “The Career Center’s job is not to get you a job,” he reminded them. “You have to put in the work to accomplish that.” The greater part of the evening was devoted to two sessions, each of which offered two panel discussions in two different locations; audience members were assigned to attend one or the other. ALTERNATIVE ASSETS PANEL Adam Lauer ’08SB, moderator (Director, Credit Suisse); Isaac Hagler ’91SB (Vice President, JP Morgan Chase); Jillian Mariutti (Director - Debt and Equity Finance, Mission Capital Advisors); Allen Pfeiffer ( Managing Director, Duff & Phelps); Jonathan Silber ’88YC (Managing Director, Clarity Capital)
(l-r): Adam Lauer, Isaac Hagler, Allen Pfeiffer, Jillian Mariutti, Jonathan Silber (l-r): Adam Lauer, Isaac Hagler, Allen Pfeiffer, Jillian Mariutti, Jonathan Silber
EQUITY RESEARCH & ASSET MANAGEMENT PANEL Moshe Orenbuch ’84YC, moderator (Managing Director, Credit Suisse); Zev Halstuch ’98SB (Vice President - High Yield Credit Research Manager, HSBC); Tuvia Marks ’17YC (Analyst, BlackRock); Jared Rutner ‘18YC (Product Strategist, PIMCO); Suzanna Sava ’01SB (Vice President, Moody’s)
(l-r): Suzanna Sava, Jared Rutner, Zev Halstuch, Tuvia Marks, and Moshe Orenbuch (l-r): Suzanna Sava, Jared Rutner, Zev Halstuch, Tuvia Marks, and Moshe Orenbuch
FINANCE BUSINESS MANAGEMENT & INDIVIDUAL WEALTH MANAGEMENT PANEL Aaron Safier ’05SB, moderator (Founder & CEO, Sapphire Wealth Advisory Group); Daniel Danesh ’13YC, ’16C (Associate - Legal & Internal Audit, Goldman Sachs); Josh Katz ‘15SB (Valuation Control Associate, Morgan Stanley); Noah Pottash (Senior Analyst, Goldman Sachs); Stephen Zeffren ’11SB (Financial Advisor, Northwestern Mutual)
Career Center hosts "What is Wall Street about other than investment banking?" event. (l-r): Daniel Danesh, Josh Katz, Aaron Safier, Noah Pottash, and Stephen Zeffren
TRADING & EXECUTION PANEL Baruch Deutsch ’79YC moderator (Sales Manager, Bank Hapoalim); Moshe Benscher ’18SB (Analyst, J.P. Morgan); Eli Davidoff ’86YC (Head Trader, Greenhaven Associates); Yehuda Kessock ’09SB (Director of US Rates Trading, TD Securities); Aaron Strassman ’10SB (Execution Trader, SECOR Asset Management)
(l-r): Yehuda Kessock, Moshe Benscher, Aaron Strassman, Baruch Deutsch, and Eli Davidoff (l-r): Yehuda Kessock, Moshe Benscher, Aaron Strassman, Baruch Deutsch, and Eli Davidoff
In addition to speaking about their individual responsibilities within their companies, the panelists also offered valuable insights about the industry and suggestions for achieving success. Echoing Chesner’s remarks in his keynote address, they all emphasized the importance of networking (Silber of Clarity Capital said to “talk to anyone who will talk to you because that is how you will learn what you’re good at”), persistence in the search (Rutner of PIMCO suggested “being methodical in filling out the Excel spreadsheet and following-up on everything entered into it”), preparation (Zeffren of Northwestern Mutual said that “my daily practice is to read the Wall Street Journal so that I know what I need to know”), and a well-constructed résumé (Sava of Moody’s encouraged people to “be prepared to talk about your resume: if it’s on there, know it cold”). The key, however, to a successful outcome is an intense and balanced self-awareness. Mariutti of Mission Capital said it well when she advised that prior to engaging with a company, “you need to why you are the person this company needs to fill the job you are pursuing at this time.” Kessock of TD Securities added that “you don’t need to know everything because you’ll be trained, so be flexible in adapting yourself to learning new things.” Bennett Schachter ’98SB (Managing Director – Equity Capital Markets, Goldman Sachs) closed out the evening with warm congratulations to everyone who attended and praise for how a Yeshiva University education prepares its graduates to be successful leaders in whatever occupation they choose.